Art as Love by Amy Moore, CHAW Executive Director

February 14, 2019

The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than love. -Vincent Van Gogh.

The notion of “art as love” describes perfectly the synergy of CHAW. Nothing animates a community quite like art and vice versa. I like Van Gogh’s musing because it inverts how we typically frame our relationships with art. We talk about the ways in which the arts benefit us, but not so much about the ways in which we benefit the arts. Beyond patronage and the actual making of art is the notion that we all contribute a part of ourselves and our experience to the creative landscape.

It’s easy to enumerate the benefits we get from the arts. They beautify and entertain, improve our health, and spark our imagination. They provide us with analytical skills needed for success, help us to communicate better and to appreciate that which is enduring and meaningful.

Perhaps most importantly, they are a roadmap for the interconnectivity of all things: the space where empathy is manifest and our stories become a repository of inspiration for artists -- stories that engender compassion -- the deepest kind of love there is.